


Winning it

by littlealien



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: 2013-2014 NHL Season, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-10
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-10-07 13:51:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17367059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlealien/pseuds/littlealien
Summary: The story of Nino Niederreiter's first season as a Minnesota Wild.





	Winning it

**Author's Note:**

> I have been trying to write a story about these two about hundred times, but it never was working. But somehow I ended up writing over 6000 words from the perspective of Nino Niederreiter. Also I noticed that I can't write dialogue, so I just didn't. This is my first work in this forum, so I hope you'll enjoy it.

Nino had been at the gym, when he got the call from his manager. There had been a trade and he was no longer playing for the organization of New York Islanders. He belonged to the Minnesota Wild. He knew that it should’ve been all that surprising. His career with the Islanders hadn’t been that pleasing. Last season after the lockout, he hadn’t been even called up from the farm to the bright lights. But still it felt like the whole bottom of his life was swept away. He would have to find an apartment. He would have to get his car somehow to Minnesota. Or just buy a new one. He would have new teammates, coaches, staff to get to know to. He had to start everything all over again.

 

Soon after the first call, came a second one. This time from Minnesota. The general manager Chuck Fletcher told him, how exciting it was to get him on the team and how they would for sure help him settle him. And how the teams had bunch of young guys, so he would fit right in. Nino was left wondering after the call, was the man genuinely so happy to have him on team or was it just normal courtesy. Then he called his dad to give the news before he read it for some online news site.

 

The training camp started as usual. Nino didn’t have an apartment yet, so he was staying in the hotel. Nino didn’t have a car either, so he was lucky the get a ride from one of the veterans, Zach Parise. Parise had grown up in Minnesota, so while they were driving, he told him about the area. Where to buy groceries, where was the best dry clean and where to eat, when Nino would be too lazy to cook. He also pointed out bunch of department buildings, that were popular among the younger guys. He told, that Nino should probably get apartment there, since he came to Minnesota alone, without a girlfriend. Then he asked, if Nino had a girlfriend, and Nino said that he didn’t. Nino didn’t mention that he wasn’t exactly interested in girls, that would have been too much to reveal on day one.

 

They arrived in the arena and met immediately the captain, Mikko Koivu, on the parking lot. Mikko had sent him a message the day he had been traded. Now Nino was shaking his hand and then he saw a guy standing behind him. Clearly a player, rather small one, with a flowing blond hair. He knew, who he was. They had been drafted the same year on the first round. Mikael Granlund. Zach jokingly introduced him as Mikko’s son and got an eyeroll out of the both Finns. When they were walking in, Mikael actually introduced himself with a small smile on his face. When they walked in to the locker room, Nino was pulled into the craziness of the first day of training camp. He met way too many people, he got all new equipment, in the colors of dark green, red and cream white. He was part of a Wild now.

 

After the meetings and the first ice practice, he was told, that Mikko would take him back to the hotel, since Zach still had to stay for meeting with a physician. He sat down to the back seat with Mikael, who he had notice to be more on the quiet side. Mikko was still talking to Ryan Suter outside, when Mikael offered him a phone number of a real estate agent, so he wouldn’t have to stay in the hotel for long. It turned out that Mikael was one of those young guys living in the department buildings that Zach had pointed out.

 

One week later, Nino moved to an apartment, two floors up from Mikael’s. And since his car was to be transferred early next month, he was now car pooling with the young guys. Sometimes with Jason or Charlie, or both of them, since they were living together, but mainly with Mikael. He was more talkative, when they were just by themselves, than in the locker room and Nino started enjoying spending time with him. They did hang out with the young guys, as they were often called, a lot. Sometimes jut eating out, often playing video games and pool. Things started to feel normal surprisingly fast. Mikael was even put to be his roommate on the road, when the staff noticed that they were getting along.

 

They started their season with couple of losses, which was frustrating. Nino thought that the team was playing pretty well, but somehow, they didn’t manage to pull the win out of the games. Nino had noticed early on that even though Mikael spend most of his time with the young guys, he also had a special bond with Mikko. Often after the games they lost, he went to sit next to the captain on the plane, mainly to brood. When Nino once asked about it, Mikael told, that they had been good friends ever since they won World Championship together and when Mikael came to Minnesota, Mikko had always been there for him.

 

They finally manage to get a win over the Jets at home on their fourth game of the season. He felt that the win lifted a weight from the whole team’s shoulders. And then the next game against Dallas, Nino scored his first goal of the season. The next day was free of practice and the travel to Buffalo was only in the afternoon, so Charlie pulled out a box a beer to celebrate. Not that they were going to get drunk. Mikael made it very clear, that Mikko would kill them, if they would get wasted. But a couple of beer each would make any harm. In the middle of pool game after two beers, Nino thought, that maybe this was where he was supposed to be. Maybe Minnesota and the twin cities were supposed to be his home all along.

 

He saw Mikael smiling at him from the other side of the pool table and he felt a warm feeling in his guts. He didn’t mean to like Mikael this much. It was just hard not to. They had spent so much time together and even if Nino tried to convince himself otherwise, Mikael was very cute. And very sweet. And very good at hockey, a natural talent. Mikael broke the eye contact, when his phone started ringing. Mikael excused himself and moved to the hallway to talk. Nino wasn’t sure, why he followed, but he did. He stayed hidden, behind the door, but he could hear. Mikael was speaking in Finnish, so Nino didn’t understand. But he could hear his voice. There was anger and frustration. Maybe a little bit of sadness, mainly at the end, when the anger started to wear off. Only thing that came to Nino’s mind, was that the caller had to be a girlfriend. Long-distance, jealousy, missing each other. That made sense.

 

Nino returned to the common room of the building, where Jason and Charlie were joking with a rookie, Matt Dumba, who had also made a goal earlier that evening. Nino rolled his eyes, when he saw a beer bottle in Matt’s hand, but didn’t say anything. Back home, drinking age was lower that 21, so he didn’t really care. Mikael returned to the room couple of minutes after him. He didn’t look happy and Nino tried to catch his eye, but the Finn was staring at the beer on his hands. He finished the beer fast and told everyone that he was done for the night and left. Nino wanted to follow him and ask what had happened, but he didn’t. It wasn’t his place. Not with the bubbling feeling in his stomach, that he got every time he saw Mikael. Not when he wished, that the call had been a break up call. He had no right to wish for that. But he did.

 

The next day Mikael was even more quiet than usual. They watched Netflix on the plane and Nino was having hard time stop looking at him and focusing on the movie. When they arrived at the hotel and Mikael was still awfully quiet, Nino had to ask, if everything was okay. And when Mikael just brushed the question off, Nino brought up the phone call. He asked, if it was a girlfriend. And Mikael said that it was something like that. And that things were just bit hard at the moment. Nino didn’t want to pressure him, so he didn’t ask more. But the next day on the breakfast, he was pretty sure that Mikael was talking about it with Mikko. At least it looked like that, he couldn’t hear or understand, because they had taken a table for themselves and were speaking in their own language.

 

They won against Buffalo that night. Nino was starting to feel that he finally belonged to the NHL. He didn’t make points every game, but the game felt good. He wasn’t struggling all the time and he could live up to the speed. And the team started doing that as well. They had couple of rough games, but then they started winning, a lot. The life was so easy, when they were winning. Everybody was happy, and the mood was light, from top players to the equipment staff. Of course, there were so games that they still didn’t manage to win, but no team could win all the time. Nino could see also Mikael feeling better. Maybe the couple wasn’t fighting anymore. Maybe it was the winning. They were still hanging out almost every day and Nino could feel himself falling for him. He couldn’t stop. He knew that nothing good would come out with having a crush to his straight, taken best friend and a teammate. But he couldn’t stop being around Mikael.

 

Then Mikael got injured. His head hit to the walls by Kadri in Maple Leafs game. Mikael told to Nino that he had had a concussion before and that he was going to be fine. But still Nino thought it was nerve wrecking to leave him alone, when the team was on the road.  They had taken another Finn, Erik Haula, to replace Mikael, and he also came Nino’s roommate on the road, while Mikael was at home. And when they were at home, Nino was with him almost all times. He knew that Mikael was annoyed by the fact that he couldn’t play or do much anything else either. Nino made sure that at least he had company and food. But the most annoying thing for everyone, was that the team started losing. More and more until the winning streak was a hazy memory. And even when they got Mikael finally back right before Christmas, they still lost last six games of the year.

 

After they lost to the Blues on New Year’s Eve, they still gathered at Zach’s house to see the year turn to new one. Just like hoping that their luck would turn with it. There was champagne and beer. Even all the captains were drinking. It wasn’t like they could do any worse. It was actually a fun night. Maybe that was what they had needed. When the year changed in freezing Minnesota winter, Nino could see a spark in Mikael’s eyes. Nino didn’t know what to think. Mikael was so close. All he would have needed, was to turn his head down and step a bit closer, and their lips would’ve met. But he couldn’t do that. Mikael looked like he wanted to, but Nino didn’t trust his own instincts. Maybe he was seeing what he wanted to see. And Mikael was still taken. He couldn’t risk it, he wouldn’t.

 

After that they were back on the winning track. They started the year with four wins. It felt like everything was opposite to how they had ended last year. On the beginning of the January, the Olympic rosters were released. Nino had been happy to get a call and to be able to represent Switzerland. Both Mikael and Mikko were chosen to Team Finland, even though Mikko had just gotten injured right before the announcement and wasn’t sure, if he would be ready before the Olympics. Zach and Ryan were both picked to play for USA. This was the dream. To play in the National Hockey League and to play in the Olympics. And another dream was to win in both. Nino had been in the Swiss team the spring before, when they won silver. That was the first medal they had won in ages. But the Olympics were a totally different challenge.

While the played through January, Nino was more convinced that this was his team. He was playing well, and the team felt like his family. He never felt lonely and he enjoyed the responsibility that he got from the coaching staff. Maybe he had needed the trade. Mikael wasn’t a small part of it. He was Nino’s best friend, no matter what Nino was feeling besides it. He could see easily, that Mikael was still sometimes upset, not that it showed in the way he was playing. Nino could see him sometimes texting to someone, while clearly being frustrated. Nino also couldn’t stop being curious about it. Mikael never mentioned to anyone that he was in a relationship. Only his parents had visited him during Christmas time.

 

Nino didn’t understand, why Mikael was so secretive, even if the situation was complicated. Mikko knew for sure, what it was all about. Nino had no doubt about that. But Nino felt weird, that this was something that Mikael didn’t share with him. They talked about everything. Not just hockey, but their families and growing up in their countries. How Nino moved to North America, when he was a teenager and how Mikael hated the media, because it had been constantly on his back after they won gold for Finland. But this was something that Mikael was hiding. One thing that had popped to Nino’s head, was that maybe it was a guy. Maybe it wasn’t a girlfriend at all. Maybe it was another hockey player.

 

It wasn’t that rare for two hockey players to date each other. Nino had had his own share of that, when he was younger. Those things were kept quiet. Generally, no one from the NHL had came out as gay. It was a massive step that no one was ready to take. Players didn’t want to risk their careers or turn the spotlight on themselves. Nino was sure that he didn’t want to do that. Two players being together would be scandalous, if somebody would find out. Of course, there were people, who knew: teammates, coaches, parents. But only in the small circle of silence. That’s something Nino would understand. Even though Mikael should know, that he would be fine with it.

 

They came close to the Olympic break. The Wild played first in Calgary, where they lost in overtime. And then they faced Tampa Bay Lightning at home. Nino made their first goal and they won. Next, he would be heading to Russia. He hadn’t exactly packed everything, but he still chose to spend his evening watching Mikael to pack his stuff. Mikael had received a bunch of blue and white clothes after he was elected to the team. He was excitedly talking about, how he had missed all the guys in the national team and how the coach had said that he would be possibly playing in same line with Selänne. Nino just wanted to ask, if his boyfriend was in the Olympic team too, but he didn’t. Finally, Mikael came from the kitchen with two cups of tea and sat next to Nino on the couch.

 

He looked little sad, when he was watching Nino. Mikael said that it was going to be weird, if they would have to play against each other. Nino agreed. At least their teams were in different groups. He saw Mikael biting his lip and Nino could not help, but stare. Mikael noticed that. And then Mikael kissed him, almost carefully. It took Nino by surprise, but he answered to the kiss. Mikael had raised his hand to Nino’s head and Nino could feel his own fingers going through Mikael’s hair. It was gentle kiss, not something that was run by lust or alcohol. It was that kind of kiss, that first kisses should be. And then it was over.

 

Nino saw a panic on Mikael’s face. Mikael said simply “I can’t”, but Nino had already known that, so he left. He could hear behind him Mikael saying, that he was sorry. Nino took the elevator two floors up and opened his apartments door and leaned against it after he closed it. He was breathing heavily. He wanted to cry, and he wanted to shout. He was happy, but he was so angry. It was what he had wanted, to just kiss to Mikael. But to like this, not when he was taken, not when he was cheating by kissing Nino. After a while he took a deep breath and then he started packing rest of his stuff.

 

The next day he was on the airport. Mikael was there too. Wild had got them a charter plane for the first part of their trip. They acted just like nothing had happened in front of Zach and Ryan. Mikko hadn’t been able to make it with his broken foot. It was a shame, he would have been the captain of the Finnish team. Zach in the other hand would be wearing a ”C” on his USA jersey. When the changed flights, Nino joined some of his teammates and Mikael joined his. They probably should have talked about it. But Nino just needed some time. And that time would be the Olympics.

 

Nino sat on the plane next to Roman Josi, who he knew well from the Swiss team. They were mainly sleeping during the long flight, but it was also good to catch up and play some cards. Most of their team was already that Sochi, but the few NHLers that they had were all on their way. Nino was still tried, when they got there, but he was still excited. He also made the decision not to think about Mikael but enjoy the tournament. He didn’t know, if he would experience it ever again.

 

They had a less than a week time to practice, so it was good that the team was already familiar with each other. They also had time to get to know the Olympic village and see some other events. Switzerland started their games against Latvia. It was a tough game and they won with their only goal. They had a day off before they played against Sweden. It wasn’t a surprise that Sweden was good, and Nino was kind of happy that they manage to get out of the game with only one goal scored against. But then again, it was so close, that they could have won it. The next day they faced the Czechs and manage to win, again only with one goal made in the game.

 

With the format, they would be playing against Latvia again, so that they could get to the quarter finals. They did have time of before it, so they spend it together as a team trying to build the spirit that they had previous spring. They weren’t able to reach it. This time Latvia came out as a winner. Nino was disappointed, mainly on himself. He hadn’t made a single point in the whole tournament and now they were out.

 

The NHL players were moved back to North America very quickly after their tournament was over, so Nino found himself packing again right after the game. Probably they would still go out with the team, but Nino didn’t want to leave the packing for the morning, especially if they were heading out. Losing in Olympic tournament like this hurt. They didn’t even make to the quarterfinals. Of course, winning even a medal in the best tournament of the world would have been a reach for the Swiss team, but Nino hadn’t expected it to end so quickly. He hadn’t been able to stop himself checking, who the Finns were playing against. They would face Russia next on Russian home ice. That wouldn’t be an easy task.

 

Hour later he headed out with the team to spend last night together. The Olympic Village was a strange place to stay. At the same time, it was full of ambitious athletes and on the other side was all the entertainment. Some contestants were still focusing on their performances in their competitions and some of them had already done their part and were celebrating: victories, medals or simply the achievement of making it there.

 

When they were walking down the main street of the village, they saw a bunch of guys in blue and white driving their, in Nino’s opinion, ridiculous bikes. He noticed himself looking for a familiar face, that he found. At the same time, he was still very confused about their situation, but he still missed his best friend. One of the bikes slowed down and the driver hopped off. Mikael was walking towards him. Nino had  to smile to him with a sad smile. He hugged Mikael, in the way that guys hug each other. Mikael said that he was sorry to hear that Switzerland was already out of the tournament. Nino just shrugged his shoulders. It was what it was. Nino told him, that he was now hopping for Finland to win. Then they went their separate ways.

 

Next day Nino had a slight hangover, when he sat down to the bus that would take him and the team to the airport. He slept his way thought the first flight. He was happy notice that Finland had won the game against Russia and would move to the semifinals. The last part of his journey back to Minnesota he traveled alone. Everybody else was still in the tournament. The jetlag took its part the next day, so he spent it recovering from the travelling and disappointment. In the evening he got a message from Mikko that invited him to watch the semifinals next day. He appreciated it. Mikko and Mikael were close, but Mikko was still the captain for them all. And he must have been feeling terrible to not be able to play.

 

He got good hugs from the players, who had stayed in Minnesota for the break. Both Jason Zucker and Pominville had stayed and so had Charlie. Also, Jonas Brodin had been brave and showed up in a Finnish household in a day like this. They had gathered in the living room of Mikko’s and his family’s. Nino got also a warm greeting from Mikko’s spouse and got to even hold their baby daughter, who was almost six-months-old. The set of the day was clear. First it was Finland against Sweden and the USA against Canada. Pommer was the only one rooting for Canada, which made Charlie and Jason even louder. The bets were made as always, and then the first game began.

 

Nino was obliviously rooting for Finland and nobody was even surprised. They knew that Nino and Mikael were close, but not how close exactly and what had been going on lately. The game was tight, but Finland lost it with one goal difference. Nino saw on TV, how devastated the team looked and also saw the pain in Mikael’s face. They had been so close on playing in the finals. Mikko’s face was so grim, that Jonas, even though he was smiling, didn’t even say anything aloud. Nino knew that Mikko thought the Finnish Olympic team as his own. Mikko might have not been there, but he still felt like a captain.

 

The Team USA got the same end results as Finland. They were out. Pommer was happy to let the Americans know that hockey was Canada’s game. Both Charlie and Jason also lost a nice share of money to him. After the second game they stayed for one more beer and then everybody went their ways back home. Nino send a message to Mikael that he was still rooting for him over Zach and Ryan, so Finland better win the next game. It must have been already very late in Sochi, but he still got an answer that Mikael would make sure that it would happen. The next morning Nino watched from the comfort of his own couch, how Mikael won his first Olympic medal.

 

After the Olympics, things slowly moved to normal. The organization celebrated all its Olympic players and then it was time to look forward. Nino tried to be like everything was normal. It was just hard to pretend that the kiss hadn’t happened. They didn’t talk about it. Nino wondered, if Mikael regretted it. Nino also wondered, if Mikael had told about it, to this someone. His boyfriend. Nino also wondered, if Mikko knew about it. He sometimes felt that Mikko was giving him sorry looks. Or maybe he just imagined it, because he felt sorry for himself. The team at least was playing well and even Mikael was playing the best hockey of his career. They really needed it, if they were going to make it to playoffs after the catastrophic end of the previous year. They also got to witness a special moment, when Mikael played first NHL game against his brother. Nino got to also meet Markus Granlund briefly. He seemed to be the one of the brothers, who had the better social skills.

 

People always joked that goalies were weird, but the joke was more than proven real, when Ilya Bryzgalov joined the Minnesota Wild before the trade deadline. Bäckström had gotten injured, so they really needed another goalie to survive rest of the season. Kuemper was great, but they needed a proper back up. And the back up they got was also the personality that the room had needed. Even if Ilya was sometimes very bizarre, he brought lightness and laugh to the everyday life in the locker room. They also had gotten Mikko back with the team, so leadership was also in check. They were ready to fight for the playoffs.

 

They played back to back games with Red Wings in the middle of March. First, they lost at home and then they headed to Detroit. Nino hadn’t seen Mikael much during last couple of days and he seemed more quiet than usual. That’s why Nino was surprised, when Mikael sat on his own bed in the hotel room faced towards Nino, who was sitting on his own bed back against the end of the bed, and then Mikael decided to talk. He said that he was sorry that he had put Nino in the situation that they were in. The kiss. And then he told Nino that now he had broken up, admitting, with his boyfriend. Nino asked when and Mikael answered “Yesterday”. Nino just nodded. Mikael said that it had nothing to do with Nino, things just had been really hard for so long, but they also had been together for years, so it wasn’t easy to do the right thing and break up. And that now he needed some time to just focus on hockey, because the team was so important to him.

 

Nino agreed. They wanted to win, and he didn’t want to mess it up, because of his stupid feelings. But when they went to sleep, and lights were out, Nino did feel small spark inside of him. There was hope. Maybe now it wasn’t the time, but maybe the time would come.

 

The ending of the regular season was intense and crazy and so much fun. The team had been glued together so well during the season and it started to feel like the hard part was over. The team felt like it had always been Nino’s family. If they would just keep winning, they would make it. The life was just hockey. They trained, they slept, they played, and they won. Nino might have caught himself looking at Mikael sometimes too long, but they were back to being best friends without the weirdness. They needed to be the support system to each other like they had been the whole season, because the more spring grew, the more it was about hockey. And they made it. With their four-game winning streak in April, they secured their spot. It might have been a wild card spot, but it gave them a chance to play and chance to win.

 

The couple of days, that they had between the regular season and playoffs, were nerve wrecking and warmhearted. The younger guys basically just hang out all day long. They went to practice together and tried to get some rest in the afternoons and evenings. They watched movies and ordered food in, trying keep the good feeling up and not break the bubble of that was filled with confidence and unity. Zach held a team dinner one evening where all the players and coaches came, and they had a good time. Nothing crazy, just having fun with the guys.

 

The playoff series didn’t start as planned. The first two games were played in Denver and Avalanche played their best in both games. Wild was almost like one step behind all the time. The results were close, which made the situation frustrating. They could’ve won, but they just didn’t. The plane back to Minnesota was quiet. Mikael had found a place next to Mikko, like he did in situations like this. Nino tried to just sleep, so he could be on his best on the next game. They drove home also quietly. Nino was the one with a car and Mikael kept staring out of the window on the passenger seat. When they got close to home, Mikael just said that they would win the next game. They had to, and he was going to make sure of it. Nino had to admire his courage and his determination.

 

Two day later it was a game day, more important one than usually. Avalanche already had two games out of four and they couldn’t get third, if Wild wanted to come out of the series as a winner. Nino was driving again. Somehow, it was clear that they would head out to practice and to the game together. Morning skate wasn’t mandatory, they had had practice yesterday with the whole team, but it felt good to get feeling to the ice before the game. And to the building. While skating on the ice, Nino imagine, how in the evening every single seat of the arena would be filled with Wild fans. How the people would be loud and how he could feel the energy to the ice.

 

The team staff had delivered lunch to the rink and the team members, who had been on the ice stayed to eat there. The atmosphere was good. The same stupid jokes, but everybody knew that the day was important. Nino and Mikael headed home for a nap, but in few hours, they were already back in the building. Nino could sense the excitement from everyone. Not just from the team, but from the management and from every single person he walked pass in the hallways of the arena. They played soccer as always. They warmed up on ice and listened Yeo’s last words before the game and then it was time. Nino could here the words, before they stepped on ice. Playoff hockey was back in Minnesota and this was their ice. Let’s play hockey.

 

And they did. The game was intense. Wild was on top of their game again, but so was Avalanche. Kuemper was playing great, but so was Varlamov. They didn’t score, but neither did Avalanche. Nino felt bad taking a penalty in a game like that, but the penalty kill held. The longer they got in the game, the bigger was the pressure. They hadn’t lost anything yet, but they hadn’t won either. They just needed to score, but no one did. They went to overtime in scoreless situation. The team, that would make the only goal in the game, would win.

 

Nino was at the bench, when it happened. Mikael was at the corner with the puck, trying to get rid of Hedja and then he did. And then he managed to make his way to front of the goal and then he tripped. And scored. It felt like the whole building exploded. The crowd was yelling. The players were yelling, trying to get to the ice and to Mikael as fast as possible. They made it. They won it. Mikael won it. Like he had said. Nino had to wait to get to Mikael, because everyone was hugging him. When he finally did, he squeezed him fast and smiled. Only thing he could say at the moment was “you did it”.

 

They took the celebration to the locker room. If they could win once, they could do it twice. They could win as many as there were games to play. Kuemper also got all the love he deserved. He had given them the best chance to win by not letting Avalanche score at all. They also got applause from Yeo, and then also reminder that this wasn’t it. This was only the first step, but very important one and he was proud of them. Then he let them keep celebrating. The music was loud, and the players were joking around. Nino started to take his skates off and happily looked around. Winning was so much better than losing. He saw Mikael, who had only gotten rid of his helmet and gloves. The hair was messy, and his face was just – blissful. Like this was the best thing that he had ever done. Nino couldn’t do anything else than just smile. There was no point of hiding, what he felt in that moment. He was in love with this guy. Mikael caught his glance and looked back straight into his eyes. The room was full of people having fun, but they just stared at each other and smiled.

 

Nino was slow on purpose. He saw that it took a while to Mikael even think about getting ready to go. So, Nino also took his time. He was still ready way before him and stayed sitting on his place waiting for him. Other guys started leaving, some of them had wives and families waiting for them. Nino just had Mikael. Finally, they were alone. Mikael was still tying his shoe laces. Nino walked up to him from the other side of the room. Mikael raised his head and said that he was ready to go. Then he stood up and they were facing each other almost chest to chest. Mikael had raised his face up and Nino looked into his eyes and raised his hand to trace Mikael’s face and then Nino kissed him.

 

Afterwards Nino thought that it had been somehow unavoidable. In that moment, he didn’t have any other option than to kiss Mikael. And Mikael didn’t mind. After the kiss, that felt like an hour, Mikael just wrapped his hands around Nino’s waist and buried his face to his chest. Nino hold him tightly, pressing his cheek to Mikael’s still wet hair. They stood like that for a while, taking it in. They won and they had each other. They didn’t need anything else. After a while Mikael raised his head and asked, if they could go home. They had dinner at Mikael’s. Nino enjoyed the small touches that Mikael left to his skin and he couldn’t resist to do the same. In the end of the night they fell a sleep tangeled to each other in Mikael’s bed.

 

It became a thing that they did, and Nino couldn’t be happier about it. They shared kisses and touches and they slept in the same bed. All sweet and innocent. They won the next game, fighting to keep their lead to the end. Then it was time to head back to Denver. Nino enjoyed having Mikael lean on his shoulder the whole flight. Avalanche took their third win on their home ice. Nino missed having Mikael leaning on his shoulder on the flight back. The series wasn’t done yet. Avalanche would have needed one more win, but Wild tied the series again in St. Paul. They had taken the series to game seven.

 

There was something iconic about game seven. It was the final game that solved the whole series, when either of the teams hadn’t been able to do it earlier. It was a game that was played only, if the both teams were as good. And in this case, it was taken to the extreme. The night in Denver was full of chances. Avalanche started the scoring, but Mikko managed to tie the game. And then it happened again. They kept scoring goals right after each other. Nino himself scored in third period. But when the time run out, they were still even. Three goals for Avalanche and three goals for Wild. They were heading to over time, again. For the fourth and final time in the series.

 

Nino didn’t remember very well, what happened. He was going to Avalanche’s end on full speed and Kyle passed him the puck. He thought of giving the puck back but took a shot instead. And it went in. He had made a goal. They had won. Not just the game, but the series. The players piled up on him and he just wanted to yell his chest out. The team took the celebration to the plane and even if they were dead tired, Nino and Mikael were too busy taking their clothes off.

 

They didn’t win the Stanley Cup. They won Blackhawks only twice. Their season ended on game six on the second round of the playoffs and it hurt, because the team deserved better. But Nino was happy. He felt like he had still won something. He had a home and a team. And Mikael. Way more than he had expected, when his manager called him the previous summer.


End file.
